Washington’s 2025-26 campaign is now set to wrap up Tuesday night in a matchup with Columbus.
The deciding blow came Monday, as Philadelphia rallied for a 3-2 shootout triumph against Carolina to push the Capitals out of the postseason chase. The two goals for Philadelphia came off the sticks of Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov, sinking a Carolina club that had already wrapped up the Metropolitan Division title and, for that reason, opted to give several of its top contributors the night off.
With that outcome, Philadelphia grabs the final postseason berth available out East and sets up a first-round date opposite Pittsburgh. Carolina, for its part, locked down the conference’s No. 1 seed by banking the point that comes with a shootout defeat.
View this post on Instagram
This marks the initial postseason miss of Spencer Carbery’s run behind the bench, and Washington’s earliest such absence dating back to spring 2023 — the year that came before Carbery was hired. Even without a playoff invitation, the Capitals are positioned to rank no worse than seventh league-wide in regulation wins and presently carry a goal differential of plus-18.
As Brian McNally pointed out, that figure — with a single contest yet to be played — would equal the steepest positive margin for any team to fall short of the postseason going back to 2009. Vegas, in 2022, likewise missed despite a plus-18 differential.
Where the East stands once Philadelphia won
Image source: the league standings page
On top of being the Capitals’ closing contest of the campaign, Tuesday’s tilt may double as the final NHL game ever for captain Alex Ovechkin. A week ago, Washington’s 40-year-old captain indicated he would hold any verdict on a return next autumn for the offseason months.